Gundam F91 Side Story: Londo Bell's Final Toll
Disclaimer:
I don't own Gundam F91. Sunrise and some other folks whose names I've yet to translate does. This story however is another matter.
Author's Notes: Thanks to the guys who sent me e-mail you don't know how much it means to me to receive them. Now for a few fast facts about the story:
1. In my story the Londo Bell was disbanded a few years after the Mafty Uprising.
2. Frontier 5 the New Maine Colony is patterned after the coastal cities of Maine and about 56% of the colony surface is water (kinda like the Riviera Resort Ship in Macross7).
3. Since the EFSF hadn't considered making MS for underwater use in a long time the Federation Forces on New Maine had to revise several amphibious MS to fit their needs.
4. 'An old Volkswagen is easier to service than a brand new Porsche.' Its cheaper to use One Year War MS in training runs - parts are much easier to produce and they require much less maintenance and fuel to run.
This story is basically my take on a few missing facts on the F91 storyline. Like who the assassin was that tried to kill Korozo, or who and how information on bugs leaked out.
Special thanks MAHQ for weapons info.
Legend:
[] - denotes character's thoughts
Epilogue:
July 37, 116 U.C. Londelion
Londo Bell Headquarters
General Collin Michaels walked briskly towards his office. Something in his system was warning him of an impending catastrophe.
Actually he had been feeling it for quite some time now. It started when Lieutenant General Gillian Celtic, his former commander, had 'retired' and he took over a few months ago. Now the rumors had begun.
He tried not to think about it since it was a good day- his daughter just got out of the hospital after giving birth to his grandchild.
"Major General Albert Vince Reed is waiting in your office General Michaels," his aide Lieutenant Geribaldi Vanola reminded him.
Major General Albert Vince Reed was a good friend of his; they had been together since boot camp and the hell that was the One Year War. He was also the head of the EFSF's Special Executive Committee- the one that handles the Federation's Internal Affairs Bureau.
That meant two things: either he was here to congratulate him on his first grandchild or he was here to give him the news that Gillian and his former commander the Late Bright Noah had warned him about...
"Vanola, call in the commanders tell them that I may need them on stand-by," General Michaels said, dismissing him.
As Lieutenant Vanola saluted and went away he uttered a silent prayer hoping that whatever decisions they make today would be for the good of mankind. Reaching for the doorknob of his office, he went in to face his friend.
As General Michaels looked at the grim face of his best friend and comrade in arms he knew that his worst fears had come true. He sighed and gave a nod to General Reed. Then he called his aide: "Lieutenant Vanola- get everyone to the war room. Tell them 'winter has set- let the bears sleep until the day of the first spring bloom.'"
The young officer nodded, he knew what the message meant. It was the code that signaled the inevitable. He sighed [So this is how it ends,] he thought to himself. [Well if this is how things will be, then let's I pray that we may never have to wake the bears from sleep.]
Chapter 1
The Blossoms of Spring
U.C. 123 Frontier 5 Colony 'New Maine'
12th Space Dock
1100H FST (Frontier Standard Time)
"Looks like another passing meteor shower," a Radar tech said to his superior. "Its hard to tell with the minovsky particles from the training exercise."
His superior a smug Lieutenant fresh from the academy turned and smiled at him. "Why don't you take a break Ed. Its not like there's going to be a phantom army out there that's going to stage an invasion."
"Why'd they have to train like that anyway?" Ed complained. "The EFSF doesn't have anymore enemies to speak of anyway."
"Don't let Colonel Plincket here you say that or he'll give you his 'Second Neo Zeon War' speech."
"Honestly! That old goat sees Zekes everywhere."
They both laughed.
It was a personal joke around the EFSF personnel since the base commander Colonel Heinrich Plincket used to be with the now defunct Londo Bell during the Second Neo Zeon War. Every morning he would rouse the base with his speech on how he fought the big bad Zekes along with Amuro Rei and someone or other. His men didn't really care about it - most of them even regard him as a senile old fool.
Just then they receive a priority message.
"E...MY UNK...N MS... NEED HELP QUI...!!!"
They looked at each other confused.
"What was that all about?" the lieutenant asked.
"Hey LT! What the hell is that?!"
The lieutenant looked out of the Dock's port view screen as a number of unusual looking drab-colored MS passed by. Another stopped and leveled a large rifle at them and before they could react it fired a shot that destroyed the whole dock's control tower.
A few minutes after assorted parts from destroyed Federation MS flowed past the still smoking remains of what once was the 12th Space Dock control room.
Elsewhere similar scenes were taking place: a Salamis Kai was destroyed as it was about to dock; Federation Jegan MS's scrambling out of a Magellan Kai cruiser only to be picked off by the incredibly fast enemy MS's; a G-Cannon was able to blow of an arm from one of the attackers but was then impaled by another MS using a strange lance-like weapon.
The invasion of Frontier 5 has begun.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edward Mas Memorial High School, New Brunswick, Frontier 5, Civilian Section 2
1145H FST
Edward Mas Memorial High was located quite close to the New Maine Cliffs providing an excellent view over one of the colony's artificial sea. The school itself painted a striking image- patterned after the style of the 19th Century schools of Europe, it was the very model of an Ivy League school...
"GARRET ASHITA!!!"
...Well it was for a few moments...
A boy with ash blonde hair wearing a deep blue jacket and tie was making a mad dash for the school gates with a wicked smirk plastered on his face.
Following closely behind him was a girl with violet hair wearing a white blouse and a deep blue plaid skirt. Her blouse had a huge red stain on the chest and her purple eyes were flashing daggers as she chased after the boy.
"GARRET ASHITA- YOU COME BACK HERE!" The girl cried out.
"And why would I want to do that Miss Mirelle?" Garret cried out with a grin. "You started this! What goes around comes around!"
True enough, this all started last week when Mirelle Sanders laid a multiple spring trap involving paint, used underwear and superglue inside the boys' locker room. The result was Garret getting spray-painted on the pants, two-dozen torn gym shorts and a cancelled basketball practice game due to lack of underwear.
Though it was never proven who actually did the deed Garret had a pretty good idea who the guilty party was. So he set about planning a trap of his own for the smug young girl.
Garret smiled to himself, [Oh the look on her face as I pulled that paintgun on her...! I'll treasure for the rest of my life!] He was so happy with himself that he didn't notice where he was headed and he hit the statue of Edward Mas full force.
Garret's first thoughts were 'who put that there'. His next thoughts were: "Oh crap!"
Mirelle was standing over him with an evil grin. Her smile disappeared, however, when she saw blood dripping from a cut on his forehead.
"You're bleeding!"
Quickly, she bent down and took off her handkerchief then began to tend to his wounds.
"What happened to getting even?" Garret asked warily, though a smile did manage to appear on his lips.
"And why should I even bother with an idiot who rams himself into a stone statue." Mirelle said, still miffed.
"Well at least when I try to get somebody's attention I do it personally," Garret snarled as he sat up clutching his head.
"Harrumph! That is SO-O like you...Garret!" She replied as she finished by tying a knot on his forehead. "You could at least say 'thank you' y'know!"
"Well isn't this sweet," a voice behind them said. "Only three months and you two are already arguing like a married couple."
They turned and saw Lester Averies grinning madly at them. "You know... you two are so cute together!"
Lester Averies was Garret's best friend and since ever since he learned about Garret and Mirelle's 'predicament' he never missed a chance to tease them about it.
Before Garret could protest however Mirelle got up and walked towards Lester. She looked at him in the eye and said in an icy tone: "You should take care of your friend."
She took one last disappointed look at Garret and walked off towards the direction of the school canteen.
Garret sat up with his shoulders slumping and sighed. "Damn that girl. Why does she always do this to me, Les?"
"Well..." Lester began as he sat down. "...Things would be better if you just told her how you feel."
"Fat lot of difference that'll make," Garret said with a grunt. "Besides I don't think she cares anyway..."
"You shouldn't put yourself down so easily G-man...." He started "....But I guess I'm not really the type of guy whom you should be taking advice from- given my track record and all. Well see ya pal!"
Garret frowned at his friend's sudden remarks when he suddenly heard a voice that sent shivers down his spine.
"GAAA-REEET AAASHII-TAAA!"
Garret slowly turned his face and saw a very angry class rep looming over him. (If this had been a less serious anime a huge sweatdrop would've appeared over his head by now.)
"Hello Milfeille..." he said grimly.
Milfeille Somerset was Mirelle's best friend and the class rep of his section- a post that she had held since first grade.
"Alright, Ashita- what did you do to Mirry this time?!" The angry class rep barked out.
Garret threw her an incredulous look. "Whaddaya mean 'what I did to her?' Mirelle started this!"
"Nevertheless- YOU still upset my best friend- moron!"
[Man I'll never hear the end of this...] He thought as Mirelle began to sound off his many offenses.
Normally, Milfeille was a kind, sweet person- it was just that when she's at school she turns into a very serious, humorless and almost dictatorial bitch- especially around Garret.
Just then Garret's PDA sounded off.
He slowly slipped off leaving a still ranting Milfeille and quickly went to the nearest phone booth and plugged the PDA's modem in. Mirelle walked up hurriedly beside him and plugged in her own PDA on the phone next to him.
They looked at their messages and confirmed it with each other. They both received one e-mail message.
It read:
"The blossoms of spring have come."
"Is this... for real...?" Garret asked to no one in particular.
As if to answer his question he heard a loud rumbling from the distance. The rumblings drew closer and closer until he could clearly define them as explosions. Then suddenly a Heavygun dropped in front of them.
It crouched low with its shield held in front, protecting its chest area and cockpit. It then raised its beam rifle and fired a quick burst. Garret followed the shot and saw it hit a new type of MS. But instead of going down or at least slowing down the MS continued forward- the next few shots only bouncing off its shield.
"A beam shield!?" Garret cried out. Just then he felt somebody pull him away from where he was standing as the enemy MS fired its lance like weapon.
Normally the Heavygun's shield could block incoming enemy fire but this shot just went through the Heavygun's shield and into the cockpit, instantly killing whom ever it was piloting the poor MS. Then it exited through the MS's backpack and hit down to where Garret would have been.
He looked at whoever it was that saved him and saw Mirelle gripping his arm like a vice. Everywhere students were running and screaming as the campus suddenly became a battleground. .
The PA blared as the voice of Sayla Mas, the founder of the school addressed the panicking students: "Attention all students! Please proceed to the nearest shelter. There's plenty of room so please do not panic...!"
"Let's get out of here!" Mirelle screamed over the noise.
Garret nodded and they went towards the parking lot. Unfortunately most of the other students had similar ideas. A mad rush for the doors ensued and suddenly a dense crowd of frightened people blocked the exits.
Garret pulled Mirelle back to avoid being tangled and crushed by the crowd. And from the corner of his eye he saw Lester and Milfeille frantically waving at them. They went over and saw that Lester had found the emergency side exit. Milfeille was now opening them with her ID card (the school's emergency exit doors' codes were loaded into to school authorities and class representatives' ID cards).
After getting out safely, Milfeille hit the emergency button that opened all of the school courtyard's emergency doors to let the other students out.
Outside they saw that the EFSF was fighting an uncoordinated battle and it was plain to see that they were loosing.
A couple of new MS- Hardyguns Garret assumed- with Federation markings arrived and began firing at the enemy MS who were circling around a group of Jegans who have now taken ground positions on the parking lot. The Jegans stood in a circle with their shields raised and their beam rifles firing wildly.
Two enemy MS went down and another was damaged. But the damaged MS chose instead to charge at the encircled Jegans and plunged into them using its beam shield to take them out. And with their first targets destroyed the enemy MS now focused their attention to the newly arriving group of Federation MS.
Though the arrival of the new MS took the enemy by surprise they were able to quickly recover and started an effective counter attack using their superior speed and maneuverability.
The fighting lasted only a few minutes and in a few moments the enemy had the EFSF on the run.
With the MS now moving away from the school Garret and his party went to his pickup was which was miraculously spared from the destruction around them. After a few false starts they were off and running towards the city.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Castle Rock Training Base, Hangar 23, Frontier 5, EFSF Section 3
(Same time)
Unlike most of the Frontier Colonies New Maine was designed primarily as a big aquarium with peninsular land-masses and dots of islands (patterned after the famous coastal areas of Maine) that were actually underwater living quarters for its near two hundred thousand man fishing force.
This particular feature also made New Maine a famous training base for the EFSF's Naval Forces. Rather than sending space-born recruits to Earth for underwater training they were sent here where they were trained in both normal gravity, zero gravity, and marine survival. (In fact New Maine was the only place outside of Earth where the International Maritime Organization allows training under Regulation IV/1 of the UC0086 SCTW Convention*.) There were three EFSF Bases here in New Maine two of which were dedicated to this type of training and Castle Rock Training Base was the largest among them.
As Lieutenant Commander Moira Kajima walked inside the hangar of her squadron, she was greeted by the incessant argument between her subordinates' Hyuga and Louis.
[What is it this time?!] She thought as she groaned.
"It's good that you finally got here," someone said behind her. "The natives are getting restless..."
The slightly irked officer turned back and looked up, and up, and up...
At six foot nine Lieutenant (sg)* Vassila Breshnev was the tallest female officer in New Maine. Everybody knew and liked her vibrant personality and she was a very capable officer. But even an Ex-O had limits. "Newbie Frenchie and the 'Scourge of All Women' are at it again..."
The raven-haired commander of the 23rd Colony Defense Squadron gave an irritated frown and sighed. "What's the problem this time?"
"Frenchie's complaining about getting the GMII's. Hyuga-kun is being his normal annoying self," Vassila explained in a serious tone. Though she did smile inwardly at the way the two men acted. [Lou and Hyuga-kun can be so much like children!]
"Commander!" Louis Bordeux cried in his gritty French accent. "I wish to say that this is unacceptable..."
"AW FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD! IT'S A TRAINING RUN NEWBIE!!!" Hyuga cried, exasperated.
"Shut up Kamakura." Kajima said in a cold tone. "And you Ensign- I would have to agree with Lt. Kamakura on this one--. Thanks to that stunt you pulled last week the Engineers are overhauling most of the squadron's Jegans. [It's a good thing Sgt. Jacob got a hold of these GMII's- though I wonder where the hell he managed to find these...]
"You're lucky the Base Commander still trusts you enough to still let you pilot a mobile suit after what you did to his office..." Hyuga muttered under his breath.
"You're just jealous 'cause Frenchie thought of it first before you did..." Vassila said with a grin.
"Well... Maybe...."
"Ehem!" Lieutenant Kajima cleared her throat. "Now that we've cleared a few things- let's get back to squad assignments: Lieutenant Breshnev gets the 3rd Squad G-Cannons; Lieutenant Kamakura gets the 1st Squad Jegans; I get the 4th Squad Heavyguns- but I'll be piloting my normal Jegan; and last Lieutenant Bordeux gets the 2nd Squad GMII's.
"Now before you start complaining about your squad's MS 'Frenchie'- I have been assured by the Sergeant that these GMII's have been upgraded to carry extra vernier pods so that they would be able to keep up with the rest of us. Are there any questions?"
The three officers nodded their consent and Lieutenant Kajima dismissed them as she began to think about today's training exercise.
Today they were supposed to go against the 20th Attack Squadron who were using new MS released by Anaheim Electronics. They were supposed to be faster and more heavily armed and since they were the latest model MS they still weren't placed in the EFSF Identification Logs. 'That would be a bit of a problem,' she thought.
Luckily, Sergeant Jacobs was able to acquire pictures of these new MS-- at the cost of her next paycheck.
"I swear- that old geezer's out to make me broke!" She said, shaking her head.
She approached the loading platform of her Jegan and quickly hopped into the cockpit of her MS as a neatly uniformed female MCPO approached her. She seemed to project an air of pristine order that went above her youth.
"Lieutenant Commander Kajima," the MCPO said with a sharp salute.
[Hmmm.... A career pencil pusher,] she thought to herself as she returned the salute. "At ease soldier. How can I help you?"
"I need to clarify a few items from you Ma'am," she said smartly. "Just a slight clerical error for the books Ma'am."
"Can't this wait? I'm in the middle of a training exercise."
"Well it concerns the ammunition that you'll be using for the operation... It seems that somebody made a mistake and sent you live ammunition...."
"Aww $#*&@#^&*%^+&~! Great-- now we have to cancel the exercise!" the senior officer cried out.
She opened the communications line for her team but found that it was being blocked by minovsky interference.
"Stand back kid! I'm going out to warn my squadron."
With that she closed the hatch of her MS and the Jegan hummed to life.
The armored giant shook to life and took a step towards the hangar doors when an explosion rocked grounds and one of her squadron's Jegans fell near it.
At first she thought that one of her men had accidentally fired but then she saw a huge spike protruding from the Jegan's shoulder armor.
The next moment the general quarters alarm sounded off and all hell broke loose.
"Hey you!!!" Kajima cried at the MCPO through her MS's PA system. "Get into one of those Heavyguns and prepare to move out with me!"
The girl only stood frightened and confused.
"Dammit! You're an EFSF Officer don't make me come down and kick you into that mobile suit-- MOVE!!!"
Though still a bit frightened, the girl climbed into the standby MS and quickly joined the Lieutenant Commander.
"What's your name, kid?" Kajima asked.
"Master Chief Petty Officer Valentine Ruby, Ma'am," she replied.
"Well then Ruby- welcome to the 23rd.... I only have one rule here and its very simple-- DON'T GET KILLED!"
With that Kajima gunned her Jegan's boosters and rocketed out the hangar doors followed by Valentine who was struggling in her Heavygun.
To Be Continued.....
* International standard of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Sea/Spacefarers (As amended on UC0086). Entirely fictional but IMO Regulation IV/1 of the 1978 SCTW Convention, as amended in 1998 does exist. It is known as the SCTW Code. (Who says you can't learn anything from a fanfic?)
(My first) Omake:
"Stand back kid! I'm going out to warn my squadron."
With that she closed the hatch of her MS and the Jegan hummed to life.
The armored giant shook to life and took a step towards the hangar doors when an explosion rocked grounds and one of her squadron's Jegans fell near it.
"Damn!" Lieutenant Commander Kajima cursed. She knew she had to act fast or the base would fall into chaos.
She quickly took the controls and pushed the control levers to Position R. The Jegan rocked violently as its verniers came on-line.
Then with a sudden burst of speed it backed up and hit the filming crew's remotely operated cameras. Chaos in sues as two-dozen techs, gaffers and stagehands and the director run forward to examine the damage.
Moira opens the cockpit and steps out with a nasty bump on the head. She holds a piece of paper that she waves around in the air and cries: "ALRIGHT! WHO'S THE IDIOT WHO SWITCHED MY FLIGHT INSTRUCTION NOTES!!!"
On Sweetwater...
An old man is sitting on the park. His piercing blue eyes were hidden behind dark colored shades. He wore a look that had been hardened by years of combat yet still retained a soft quality to them.
Suddenly his cell phone rings and he answers it calmly.
"Yes?"
"It is done Sir!" the other line responds.
The man smiled at this. "Good! The colonies owe you a debt of gratitude..."
"My only wish is to serve," came the response. "Sieg Zeon!"
The old man hangs up the phone with a satisfied smile.
"That'll teach that upstart Xenostriker," the old man muttered under his breath. "Use my name and destroy my statue will you... Well then, you bastard! You will learn never to take the Red Comet for granted!"
[Insert Evil Laugh Here.]
And with that the man named Char Aznable disappears into the shadows again.
Disclaimer:
I don't own Gundam F91. Sunrise and some other folks whose names I've yet to translate does. This story however is another matter.
Author's Notes: Thanks to the guys who sent me e-mail you don't know how much it means to me to receive them. Now for a few fast facts about the story:
1. In my story the Londo Bell was disbanded a few years after the Mafty Uprising.
2. Frontier 5 the New Maine Colony is patterned after the coastal cities of Maine and about 56% of the colony surface is water (kinda like the Riviera Resort Ship in Macross7).
3. Since the EFSF hadn't considered making MS for underwater use in a long time the Federation Forces on New Maine had to revise several amphibious MS to fit their needs.
4. 'An old Volkswagen is easier to service than a brand new Porsche.' Its cheaper to use One Year War MS in training runs - parts are much easier to produce and they require much less maintenance and fuel to run.
This story is basically my take on a few missing facts on the F91 storyline. Like who the assassin was that tried to kill Korozo, or who and how information on bugs leaked out.
Special thanks MAHQ for weapons info.
Legend:
[] - denotes character's thoughts
Epilogue:
July 37, 116 U.C. Londelion
Londo Bell Headquarters
General Collin Michaels walked briskly towards his office. Something in his system was warning him of an impending catastrophe.
Actually he had been feeling it for quite some time now. It started when Lieutenant General Gillian Celtic, his former commander, had 'retired' and he took over a few months ago. Now the rumors had begun.
He tried not to think about it since it was a good day- his daughter just got out of the hospital after giving birth to his grandchild.
"Major General Albert Vince Reed is waiting in your office General Michaels," his aide Lieutenant Geribaldi Vanola reminded him.
Major General Albert Vince Reed was a good friend of his; they had been together since boot camp and the hell that was the One Year War. He was also the head of the EFSF's Special Executive Committee- the one that handles the Federation's Internal Affairs Bureau.
That meant two things: either he was here to congratulate him on his first grandchild or he was here to give him the news that Gillian and his former commander the Late Bright Noah had warned him about...
"Vanola, call in the commanders tell them that I may need them on stand-by," General Michaels said, dismissing him.
As Lieutenant Vanola saluted and went away he uttered a silent prayer hoping that whatever decisions they make today would be for the good of mankind. Reaching for the doorknob of his office, he went in to face his friend.
As General Michaels looked at the grim face of his best friend and comrade in arms he knew that his worst fears had come true. He sighed and gave a nod to General Reed. Then he called his aide: "Lieutenant Vanola- get everyone to the war room. Tell them 'winter has set- let the bears sleep until the day of the first spring bloom.'"
The young officer nodded, he knew what the message meant. It was the code that signaled the inevitable. He sighed [So this is how it ends,] he thought to himself. [Well if this is how things will be, then let's I pray that we may never have to wake the bears from sleep.]
Chapter 1
The Blossoms of Spring
U.C. 123 Frontier 5 Colony 'New Maine'
12th Space Dock
1100H FST (Frontier Standard Time)
"Looks like another passing meteor shower," a Radar tech said to his superior. "Its hard to tell with the minovsky particles from the training exercise."
His superior a smug Lieutenant fresh from the academy turned and smiled at him. "Why don't you take a break Ed. Its not like there's going to be a phantom army out there that's going to stage an invasion."
"Why'd they have to train like that anyway?" Ed complained. "The EFSF doesn't have anymore enemies to speak of anyway."
"Don't let Colonel Plincket here you say that or he'll give you his 'Second Neo Zeon War' speech."
"Honestly! That old goat sees Zekes everywhere."
They both laughed.
It was a personal joke around the EFSF personnel since the base commander Colonel Heinrich Plincket used to be with the now defunct Londo Bell during the Second Neo Zeon War. Every morning he would rouse the base with his speech on how he fought the big bad Zekes along with Amuro Rei and someone or other. His men didn't really care about it - most of them even regard him as a senile old fool.
Just then they receive a priority message.
"E...MY UNK...N MS... NEED HELP QUI...!!!"
They looked at each other confused.
"What was that all about?" the lieutenant asked.
"Hey LT! What the hell is that?!"
The lieutenant looked out of the Dock's port view screen as a number of unusual looking drab-colored MS passed by. Another stopped and leveled a large rifle at them and before they could react it fired a shot that destroyed the whole dock's control tower.
A few minutes after assorted parts from destroyed Federation MS flowed past the still smoking remains of what once was the 12th Space Dock control room.
Elsewhere similar scenes were taking place: a Salamis Kai was destroyed as it was about to dock; Federation Jegan MS's scrambling out of a Magellan Kai cruiser only to be picked off by the incredibly fast enemy MS's; a G-Cannon was able to blow of an arm from one of the attackers but was then impaled by another MS using a strange lance-like weapon.
The invasion of Frontier 5 has begun.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edward Mas Memorial High School, New Brunswick, Frontier 5, Civilian Section 2
1145H FST
Edward Mas Memorial High was located quite close to the New Maine Cliffs providing an excellent view over one of the colony's artificial sea. The school itself painted a striking image- patterned after the style of the 19th Century schools of Europe, it was the very model of an Ivy League school...
"GARRET ASHITA!!!"
...Well it was for a few moments...
A boy with ash blonde hair wearing a deep blue jacket and tie was making a mad dash for the school gates with a wicked smirk plastered on his face.
Following closely behind him was a girl with violet hair wearing a white blouse and a deep blue plaid skirt. Her blouse had a huge red stain on the chest and her purple eyes were flashing daggers as she chased after the boy.
"GARRET ASHITA- YOU COME BACK HERE!" The girl cried out.
"And why would I want to do that Miss Mirelle?" Garret cried out with a grin. "You started this! What goes around comes around!"
True enough, this all started last week when Mirelle Sanders laid a multiple spring trap involving paint, used underwear and superglue inside the boys' locker room. The result was Garret getting spray-painted on the pants, two-dozen torn gym shorts and a cancelled basketball practice game due to lack of underwear.
Though it was never proven who actually did the deed Garret had a pretty good idea who the guilty party was. So he set about planning a trap of his own for the smug young girl.
Garret smiled to himself, [Oh the look on her face as I pulled that paintgun on her...! I'll treasure for the rest of my life!] He was so happy with himself that he didn't notice where he was headed and he hit the statue of Edward Mas full force.
Garret's first thoughts were 'who put that there'. His next thoughts were: "Oh crap!"
Mirelle was standing over him with an evil grin. Her smile disappeared, however, when she saw blood dripping from a cut on his forehead.
"You're bleeding!"
Quickly, she bent down and took off her handkerchief then began to tend to his wounds.
"What happened to getting even?" Garret asked warily, though a smile did manage to appear on his lips.
"And why should I even bother with an idiot who rams himself into a stone statue." Mirelle said, still miffed.
"Well at least when I try to get somebody's attention I do it personally," Garret snarled as he sat up clutching his head.
"Harrumph! That is SO-O like you...Garret!" She replied as she finished by tying a knot on his forehead. "You could at least say 'thank you' y'know!"
"Well isn't this sweet," a voice behind them said. "Only three months and you two are already arguing like a married couple."
They turned and saw Lester Averies grinning madly at them. "You know... you two are so cute together!"
Lester Averies was Garret's best friend and since ever since he learned about Garret and Mirelle's 'predicament' he never missed a chance to tease them about it.
Before Garret could protest however Mirelle got up and walked towards Lester. She looked at him in the eye and said in an icy tone: "You should take care of your friend."
She took one last disappointed look at Garret and walked off towards the direction of the school canteen.
Garret sat up with his shoulders slumping and sighed. "Damn that girl. Why does she always do this to me, Les?"
"Well..." Lester began as he sat down. "...Things would be better if you just told her how you feel."
"Fat lot of difference that'll make," Garret said with a grunt. "Besides I don't think she cares anyway..."
"You shouldn't put yourself down so easily G-man...." He started "....But I guess I'm not really the type of guy whom you should be taking advice from- given my track record and all. Well see ya pal!"
Garret frowned at his friend's sudden remarks when he suddenly heard a voice that sent shivers down his spine.
"GAAA-REEET AAASHII-TAAA!"
Garret slowly turned his face and saw a very angry class rep looming over him. (If this had been a less serious anime a huge sweatdrop would've appeared over his head by now.)
"Hello Milfeille..." he said grimly.
Milfeille Somerset was Mirelle's best friend and the class rep of his section- a post that she had held since first grade.
"Alright, Ashita- what did you do to Mirry this time?!" The angry class rep barked out.
Garret threw her an incredulous look. "Whaddaya mean 'what I did to her?' Mirelle started this!"
"Nevertheless- YOU still upset my best friend- moron!"
[Man I'll never hear the end of this...] He thought as Mirelle began to sound off his many offenses.
Normally, Milfeille was a kind, sweet person- it was just that when she's at school she turns into a very serious, humorless and almost dictatorial bitch- especially around Garret.
Just then Garret's PDA sounded off.
He slowly slipped off leaving a still ranting Milfeille and quickly went to the nearest phone booth and plugged the PDA's modem in. Mirelle walked up hurriedly beside him and plugged in her own PDA on the phone next to him.
They looked at their messages and confirmed it with each other. They both received one e-mail message.
It read:
"The blossoms of spring have come."
"Is this... for real...?" Garret asked to no one in particular.
As if to answer his question he heard a loud rumbling from the distance. The rumblings drew closer and closer until he could clearly define them as explosions. Then suddenly a Heavygun dropped in front of them.
It crouched low with its shield held in front, protecting its chest area and cockpit. It then raised its beam rifle and fired a quick burst. Garret followed the shot and saw it hit a new type of MS. But instead of going down or at least slowing down the MS continued forward- the next few shots only bouncing off its shield.
"A beam shield!?" Garret cried out. Just then he felt somebody pull him away from where he was standing as the enemy MS fired its lance like weapon.
Normally the Heavygun's shield could block incoming enemy fire but this shot just went through the Heavygun's shield and into the cockpit, instantly killing whom ever it was piloting the poor MS. Then it exited through the MS's backpack and hit down to where Garret would have been.
He looked at whoever it was that saved him and saw Mirelle gripping his arm like a vice. Everywhere students were running and screaming as the campus suddenly became a battleground. .
The PA blared as the voice of Sayla Mas, the founder of the school addressed the panicking students: "Attention all students! Please proceed to the nearest shelter. There's plenty of room so please do not panic...!"
"Let's get out of here!" Mirelle screamed over the noise.
Garret nodded and they went towards the parking lot. Unfortunately most of the other students had similar ideas. A mad rush for the doors ensued and suddenly a dense crowd of frightened people blocked the exits.
Garret pulled Mirelle back to avoid being tangled and crushed by the crowd. And from the corner of his eye he saw Lester and Milfeille frantically waving at them. They went over and saw that Lester had found the emergency side exit. Milfeille was now opening them with her ID card (the school's emergency exit doors' codes were loaded into to school authorities and class representatives' ID cards).
After getting out safely, Milfeille hit the emergency button that opened all of the school courtyard's emergency doors to let the other students out.
Outside they saw that the EFSF was fighting an uncoordinated battle and it was plain to see that they were loosing.
A couple of new MS- Hardyguns Garret assumed- with Federation markings arrived and began firing at the enemy MS who were circling around a group of Jegans who have now taken ground positions on the parking lot. The Jegans stood in a circle with their shields raised and their beam rifles firing wildly.
Two enemy MS went down and another was damaged. But the damaged MS chose instead to charge at the encircled Jegans and plunged into them using its beam shield to take them out. And with their first targets destroyed the enemy MS now focused their attention to the newly arriving group of Federation MS.
Though the arrival of the new MS took the enemy by surprise they were able to quickly recover and started an effective counter attack using their superior speed and maneuverability.
The fighting lasted only a few minutes and in a few moments the enemy had the EFSF on the run.
With the MS now moving away from the school Garret and his party went to his pickup was which was miraculously spared from the destruction around them. After a few false starts they were off and running towards the city.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Castle Rock Training Base, Hangar 23, Frontier 5, EFSF Section 3
(Same time)
Unlike most of the Frontier Colonies New Maine was designed primarily as a big aquarium with peninsular land-masses and dots of islands (patterned after the famous coastal areas of Maine) that were actually underwater living quarters for its near two hundred thousand man fishing force.
This particular feature also made New Maine a famous training base for the EFSF's Naval Forces. Rather than sending space-born recruits to Earth for underwater training they were sent here where they were trained in both normal gravity, zero gravity, and marine survival. (In fact New Maine was the only place outside of Earth where the International Maritime Organization allows training under Regulation IV/1 of the UC0086 SCTW Convention*.) There were three EFSF Bases here in New Maine two of which were dedicated to this type of training and Castle Rock Training Base was the largest among them.
As Lieutenant Commander Moira Kajima walked inside the hangar of her squadron, she was greeted by the incessant argument between her subordinates' Hyuga and Louis.
[What is it this time?!] She thought as she groaned.
"It's good that you finally got here," someone said behind her. "The natives are getting restless..."
The slightly irked officer turned back and looked up, and up, and up...
At six foot nine Lieutenant (sg)* Vassila Breshnev was the tallest female officer in New Maine. Everybody knew and liked her vibrant personality and she was a very capable officer. But even an Ex-O had limits. "Newbie Frenchie and the 'Scourge of All Women' are at it again..."
The raven-haired commander of the 23rd Colony Defense Squadron gave an irritated frown and sighed. "What's the problem this time?"
"Frenchie's complaining about getting the GMII's. Hyuga-kun is being his normal annoying self," Vassila explained in a serious tone. Though she did smile inwardly at the way the two men acted. [Lou and Hyuga-kun can be so much like children!]
"Commander!" Louis Bordeux cried in his gritty French accent. "I wish to say that this is unacceptable..."
"AW FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD! IT'S A TRAINING RUN NEWBIE!!!" Hyuga cried, exasperated.
"Shut up Kamakura." Kajima said in a cold tone. "And you Ensign- I would have to agree with Lt. Kamakura on this one--. Thanks to that stunt you pulled last week the Engineers are overhauling most of the squadron's Jegans. [It's a good thing Sgt. Jacob got a hold of these GMII's- though I wonder where the hell he managed to find these...]
"You're lucky the Base Commander still trusts you enough to still let you pilot a mobile suit after what you did to his office..." Hyuga muttered under his breath.
"You're just jealous 'cause Frenchie thought of it first before you did..." Vassila said with a grin.
"Well... Maybe...."
"Ehem!" Lieutenant Kajima cleared her throat. "Now that we've cleared a few things- let's get back to squad assignments: Lieutenant Breshnev gets the 3rd Squad G-Cannons; Lieutenant Kamakura gets the 1st Squad Jegans; I get the 4th Squad Heavyguns- but I'll be piloting my normal Jegan; and last Lieutenant Bordeux gets the 2nd Squad GMII's.
"Now before you start complaining about your squad's MS 'Frenchie'- I have been assured by the Sergeant that these GMII's have been upgraded to carry extra vernier pods so that they would be able to keep up with the rest of us. Are there any questions?"
The three officers nodded their consent and Lieutenant Kajima dismissed them as she began to think about today's training exercise.
Today they were supposed to go against the 20th Attack Squadron who were using new MS released by Anaheim Electronics. They were supposed to be faster and more heavily armed and since they were the latest model MS they still weren't placed in the EFSF Identification Logs. 'That would be a bit of a problem,' she thought.
Luckily, Sergeant Jacobs was able to acquire pictures of these new MS-- at the cost of her next paycheck.
"I swear- that old geezer's out to make me broke!" She said, shaking her head.
She approached the loading platform of her Jegan and quickly hopped into the cockpit of her MS as a neatly uniformed female MCPO approached her. She seemed to project an air of pristine order that went above her youth.
"Lieutenant Commander Kajima," the MCPO said with a sharp salute.
[Hmmm.... A career pencil pusher,] she thought to herself as she returned the salute. "At ease soldier. How can I help you?"
"I need to clarify a few items from you Ma'am," she said smartly. "Just a slight clerical error for the books Ma'am."
"Can't this wait? I'm in the middle of a training exercise."
"Well it concerns the ammunition that you'll be using for the operation... It seems that somebody made a mistake and sent you live ammunition...."
"Aww $#*&@#^&*%^+&~! Great-- now we have to cancel the exercise!" the senior officer cried out.
She opened the communications line for her team but found that it was being blocked by minovsky interference.
"Stand back kid! I'm going out to warn my squadron."
With that she closed the hatch of her MS and the Jegan hummed to life.
The armored giant shook to life and took a step towards the hangar doors when an explosion rocked grounds and one of her squadron's Jegans fell near it.
At first she thought that one of her men had accidentally fired but then she saw a huge spike protruding from the Jegan's shoulder armor.
The next moment the general quarters alarm sounded off and all hell broke loose.
"Hey you!!!" Kajima cried at the MCPO through her MS's PA system. "Get into one of those Heavyguns and prepare to move out with me!"
The girl only stood frightened and confused.
"Dammit! You're an EFSF Officer don't make me come down and kick you into that mobile suit-- MOVE!!!"
Though still a bit frightened, the girl climbed into the standby MS and quickly joined the Lieutenant Commander.
"What's your name, kid?" Kajima asked.
"Master Chief Petty Officer Valentine Ruby, Ma'am," she replied.
"Well then Ruby- welcome to the 23rd.... I only have one rule here and its very simple-- DON'T GET KILLED!"
With that Kajima gunned her Jegan's boosters and rocketed out the hangar doors followed by Valentine who was struggling in her Heavygun.
To Be Continued.....
* International standard of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Sea/Spacefarers (As amended on UC0086). Entirely fictional but IMO Regulation IV/1 of the 1978 SCTW Convention, as amended in 1998 does exist. It is known as the SCTW Code. (Who says you can't learn anything from a fanfic?)
(My first) Omake:
"Stand back kid! I'm going out to warn my squadron."
With that she closed the hatch of her MS and the Jegan hummed to life.
The armored giant shook to life and took a step towards the hangar doors when an explosion rocked grounds and one of her squadron's Jegans fell near it.
"Damn!" Lieutenant Commander Kajima cursed. She knew she had to act fast or the base would fall into chaos.
She quickly took the controls and pushed the control levers to Position R. The Jegan rocked violently as its verniers came on-line.
Then with a sudden burst of speed it backed up and hit the filming crew's remotely operated cameras. Chaos in sues as two-dozen techs, gaffers and stagehands and the director run forward to examine the damage.
Moira opens the cockpit and steps out with a nasty bump on the head. She holds a piece of paper that she waves around in the air and cries: "ALRIGHT! WHO'S THE IDIOT WHO SWITCHED MY FLIGHT INSTRUCTION NOTES!!!"
On Sweetwater...
An old man is sitting on the park. His piercing blue eyes were hidden behind dark colored shades. He wore a look that had been hardened by years of combat yet still retained a soft quality to them.
Suddenly his cell phone rings and he answers it calmly.
"Yes?"
"It is done Sir!" the other line responds.
The man smiled at this. "Good! The colonies owe you a debt of gratitude..."
"My only wish is to serve," came the response. "Sieg Zeon!"
The old man hangs up the phone with a satisfied smile.
"That'll teach that upstart Xenostriker," the old man muttered under his breath. "Use my name and destroy my statue will you... Well then, you bastard! You will learn never to take the Red Comet for granted!"
[Insert Evil Laugh Here.]
And with that the man named Char Aznable disappears into the shadows again.
